from Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer,

Detroit and Boston lost in regulation earlier Saturday, opening the door for the Flyers to clinch a playoff spot with a win.

Thanks to sizzling right winger Wayne Simmonds, they did just that.

Simmonds scored two goals as the Flyers outlasted Pittsburgh's 'B' team, 3-1, at the electric Wells Fargo Center and earned the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.

The Flyers will play the NHL's best team, the Washington Capitals, in a best-of-seven series that will start at the Verizon Center at a date to be announced. The Flyers won two of four games against the Capitals this season, splitting at home and on the road.

In a moving pregame tribute, Lauren Hart sang "God Bless America" in a duet with a video of Kate Smith and face-timed her rendition to ill Flyers chairman Ed Snider in California. Hart blew kisses to Snider when she was finished.

"It was her idea," said Shawn Tilger, the Flyers' chief operating officer of business operations. "It gave me chills."

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Below, watch Lauren Hart face-timing Ed Snider...